Arizona's homeopathic board is the second chance for doctors who may not deserve one

The requirements for getting an M.D. license in Arizona are strict. You cannot even apply for an M.D. license if you've ever lost an M.D. license in another state. (And that includes California, which can "revoke" an M.D. license, then reinstate it. If your California M.D. license has been revoked, you cannot get an Arizona M.D. license.) You also cannot apply if you have a felony conviction.

In order to apply for a homeopathic license in Arizona, you must be either an M.D. or a D.O. in good standing in Arizona or another state. If you have lost a license elsewhere in the past, that's okay. If you are a convicted felon, you're still free to apply. And most significant: Once you are a homeopath, if you lose the license that got you in the door in the first place, you're fine. It doesn't affect your homeopathic license.

(Homeopaths in Arizona aren't even required by law to practice homeopathic medicine. That's a far cry from Connecticut, where the homeopathic license is good for homeopathic treatment and little else.)

Doctors who've committed felonies or have had their licenses revoked in other states need only to listen to a couple audio CDs about homeopathy before applying for a homeopathic license in Arizona. (One $880 correspondence course is actually taught by board president Dr. Todd Rowe.)

A homeopathic license in Arizona costs $975, almost twice as much as a conventional M.D. license ($500). Since a conventional license allows doctors to practice classic homeopathy, there are only two reasons to pay more for the homeopathic license: because you're banned from getting a conventional license or because you want to experiment with treatments the conventional board doesn't allow.

The homeopathic board also fails to discipline the doctors it has already licensed. That's one finding from — amazingly — the first audit of the homeopathic board done since 1985. The report was released in August 2007 by Arizona's Auditor General.

"The Board appears to allow conduct that the other two Arizona physician regulatory boards have determined is unsafe or unprofessional," the auditor general reports.

Auditors concluded there may no longer be a need for the board, which was created in 1981 at the behest of alternative doctors, because many alternative procedures are now allowed with conventional licenses. They also found the board has:

• Sometimes waited for more than a year to look into complaints against doctors.

• Licensed homeopathic doctors who weren't competent in homeopathy.

• Licensed a revoked Arizona D.O. who failed the homeopathy exam three times.

• Dismissed complaints against doctors without considering the accusations.

• Allowed doctors to practice medicine far beyond the scope of homeopathy.

• Failed to explain the difference between an M.D. and an M.D.h. to the public.

Copies of the August 2007 audit were delivered to the 12 state senators and representatives who sit on the Joint Legislative Audit Committee.

And yet, legislation currently being considered by the state House of Representatives would rubber-stamp the homeopathic board for two more years. Another bill attempts to clean up the board, but it fails to plug the loophole that lets doctors with revoked licenses into Arizona. In fact, the second bill solidifies the board's power to license doctors who have had their licenses revoked.

Current homeopathic board members say they are addressing the concerns listed in the audit. But recent board decisions indicate otherwise.

New Times researched the licensing history of all 107 homeopathic physicians in the state and reviewed hundreds of pages of board records. Among the findings:

• One-fourth of Arizona's homeopaths have lost their conventional M.D. or D.O. licenses.

• The homeopathic board has licensed at least five convicted felons, whose crimes range from tax fraud to mail fraud. Four are now practicing. The other is on parole.

• The board dismissed a complaint against a homeopath after a patient died. Although a county medical examiner determined that the homeopath caused the death, the board ruled that the procedure did not violate the rules of homeopathy.

• One-fourth of the homeopaths licensed in Arizona don't live or practice in Arizona. Some practice with their Arizona M.D.h. in states where their M.D. license has been revoked. That is illegal in some states and legal in others.

• Other state medical boards pay professional investigators to study complaints against doctors. The homeopathic board uses volunteer alternative doctors to investigate their colleagues.

• Some doctors use their Arizona homeopathic licenses to perform face lifts, breast augmentations, liposuctions, and other surgeries that homeopaths aren't allowed to perform.